April 24-30: Shirt, Tie, and a Pillow or Two

Completed This Week (April 24-30):

tie for the little man 

couch pillows <link to tutorial coming soon>

Current Projects:
 black knit tank w/ ruffle flower
 - finish sleeves
 - even out neck line
 - fix shoulders
 - hand-wash
 - wear to work and/or church

Future Projects:
 tie-top tank
 yoga skirt with knit waisteband
 out-to-eat placemat for the little man
 shirt with my pattern
 - need to buy straight pins

Other Goals:
 May 6th - Mom Run 5k

...but you can call me Kristi.

There's a lump of metal that sits on the table in my office. It has spinny things, and pokey things, and pully things. It has Singer written on the side of it, and it is on loan from the girl in the next cubicle. That's right ladies and gentlemen, I have a sewing machine.

 It's probably been 4 weeks since I first borrowed the sewing machine. The first week it didn't work. The thread got jammed up by the bobbin (not the bobbin thread, the "main" thread). I had a friend who is quite the little seamstress come out and look at the problem. It took about a week for her to be able to come out, but it was well worth the wait. She walked in, glanced sideways at my little machine, and *POOF* it worked! Apparently it just needed a knowing gaze to tell it to quit jackin around. I wonder how many projects you have to do to earn the respect of your sewing machine? I mean, of course, if you don't have a Theresa to come over and put it in it's place.

 My first big project was a set of curtains for the office. If you look here you'll see my pretty new office - and my ugly mess of cords under the desks. My husband picked out the fabric for this project on a trip to Hancock's. This is the first time he's ever "liked" a fabric, so while it wasn't in line with my original plan, I quickly changed paths and bought a few yards. I made simple panels, hemmed on each side, with the top folded over for a rod to go through. Of course I didn't have a rod, or really any way to hang it. Enter super-fantabulous IT-man husband. He had some cable stuff (technical term of course) which we threaded through my curtains and wrapped around the desk. It's sturdy enough that the curtain doesn't dip in the middle, but descreet enough that you're not thinking "oh my goodness! What has this girl done?!"

 My next big project was to make a shirt for myself. I used this tutorial and it was such a breeze. See, I have a pattern, but I'm terrified to use it. I've gotten as far as cutting it out to the correct size, but to be hones I"m intimidated by it. So my solution was to go patternless! The tutorial was great. The only problem I ran in to was my own doing. My advice would be to try on the shirt you want to use as a pattern. What? That's obvious? Oh. So after finishing up my pretty new shirt I squeezed in to it and thought "why is this so tight?" I then squeezed in to my pattern shirt and thought "that's why!" It fits, it's just a bit snug going over the top.

 Anyway, I'm not done with it. I still have to clean up the arm holes and the bottom. I chose to leave the edges raw because I think it looks nice that way I am nervous to hem anything. It actually looks pretty good, however I am incapable of cutting fabric without leaving a million jagged little edges, so I still need to clean those up.

 The shirt, while cute, was a little plain for my taste (and Kelly's  as well, she added a ruffle neck but I didn't want to was scared to try). So I made a ruffle, and turned it in to a flower. I see tons of tutorials for these out there, but they all require a) felt and b) a glue gun. I have neither. I started on the edge and just tacked every few inches together. It was floppy, and had to be arranged correctly on the shirt, however once I sewed it on it looks amazing! I'm not sure this shirt is machine washable any more, but it may never have been. I'm not 100% positive I backstitched at both ends of my seams. So to be safe, I will be hand washing this baby.

 My other big project to date is the tie I made for my son. To me, this was the "no big deal" project. It didn't take long, and was pretty easy to do (re: straight lines). I didn't have any velcro, so I used a large safety pin instead. My little man wore this to a wedding Saturday and it was a hit! He got SO MANY complements there, and at lunch afterwards. In fact, he had so many compliments, I decided he would wear it to church yesterday. A huge thank you to Nicole at Wannabe Crafty!

 I've made a few other projects I do not have pictures of <links coming soon>: snack bags and tissue holders mostly. The snack bag I liked a lot. It was for a gift to my son's day care teacher. I made a few homemade cookies - check out Sugarbelle for some great inspiration! She is amazing, and the reason I thought to attempt cookie decorating! - and packaged them in the re-usable baggie. I stuck a note inside explaining exactly what the bag was. She seemed excited, and I hope she enjoys it and puts it to use.

 So what do I want this blog to become? I enjoy blogging. At the same time, I don't think I can keep up with the pace I had strarted for myself. I was "great" at blogging and "bad" at family, or vice versa... and you can see which won out. :) But that is important to me. As much as I think I would enjoy having a popular, stunning blog - it's more important to me to have my family life where I want it. Maybe one day, down the line, I'll be able to devote more time to blogging. The blog world is such an exciting place, and I would truely be honored to consider myself a part of it. But now is not the time.

 I find myself rambling again, but to answer the question I have posed: I would like this blog to be a record of my accomplishments - mostly in sewing and crafting, but possibly in other things as well. I enjoy cooking, and I am starting to try new recipes and/or my own creative spin on recipes. I think it would be nice to document this so that I can see how far I've come. As I said, I've recently begun sewing, and I would like to use this as a place to list my projects. I think writing down my progress weekly will help me to stay on track and not lose interest. I think many of the reasons behind my "project add" are based in my forgetfulness. I want to do this! and this! and THIS! But I never do any of them. I may start a few, but I quickly lose interest. I'd like to keep a tab of what I accomplished this week, what I'm currently working on, and what I'd like to start in the near future.

 The final thing I may do with my little piece of the web (I say "may" because I am most definitely NOT going to over-commit myself), is to link up to my favorite projects. Right now, I have a filing system on my computer for projects I'd like to try. I use notepads, copy/paste the direct link, and put a quick title "shirt for me," "baby gift - blanket," etc. I think .

 So there we have it folks. The thoughts of an accountant-turned crafter-turned blogger-turned blog hermit/lurker-turned blogger again, but you can call me Kristi.

***I will have more pictures and the rest of the links soon. I just really wanted to get this posted while it's on my  mind.***

***How could I forget my other major project! I made these pillows for the living room! The original pillows are a deep brown suede-ish material. They are pretty enough, but I need some color in my life! I used an envelope-back pillow tutorial <again, link coming soon> to make theses cases and I LOVE them!

I WON!!!!!!!!!!

I just got an e-mail from Kathy over at Kathy and Kids and... I WON!!!!

Ok now that I'm breathing let me tell you what exactly I won:

AND a 1 in 10 chance to win:

So thank you so much Kathy! And fingers crossed everyone for the Sewing Box!!!!

3 in 30

A friend of mine linked up to a 3 in 30 challenge on her blog. There was a link, and so, of course, I followed. This challenge really speaks to me at a time in my life when I am struggling with getting things done. There's so much to do in the house (every room has at least something unfinished), in the kitchen (I'm trying to eat more and healthier), in my spirit (I'm trying to pray more and read the bible) and in my life (I'm trying to exercise, be healthy, blog, and balance life in general). I get overwhelmed with my to-do lists so I make schedules. I get overwhelmed with my schedules, so I give up. Last night I sat on my booty and watched 2 hours of TV for lack of anything better to do.

I'm attempting to go from 0-60 in a day, and it's stressing me out. I need to pare down my to-do list into something managable. I need to do 3 things this month, and 3 things next month, and eventually I'll be doing it all (ha!).

So what to start with?

The being healthy kick is time-sensitive. I am participating in a facebook challenge as well as a company sponsored (so I can get a discount on insurance) challenge, both to lose weight in the next few months. This needs to be one of my top 3 because, well, if I get to it "eventually" I won't be able to complete my challenges! Of the millions of things I could do to be healthy, I think this month I am going to focus on eating balanced meals. I don't eat enough. I never really knew this until I started trying to track the "portions" I eat and make sure everything is balanced. If I cut out the crap (which doesn't really fit into a food group anyway), there's not too much left. I skip breakfast a lot. I skip lunch frequently. I always have dinner, but I rarely snack. Basically, not enough. Starting this past weekend I've been focusing on eating more often, more meals, and more better (can I even say that? lol!). I have lost 2 pounds since Monday. wow! Apparently my body was in starvation mode... and I had no clue. So this month, I just want to keep it up. I want to keep eating enough food. I'm not going to worry about going over (within reason obviously), I just want to get the food in my body. Then, maybe next month, I can start counting the calories and see if I've gone "above and beyond" on my eating more. haha!

The next big thing for me is my spiritual life. I want to read the bible. I want to pray and be closer to God. I just haven't been doing it. So item #2 for me will be to read the bible every evening before bed. I'm not giving myself a time or chapter minimum... just so long as I pick up the bible and read something... ANYTHING. Every day. From here, I will try to work more on my memory verses. I am currently memorizing Collosians 3. I know v1-12, but I've hit a stumbling block. Basically, I've stopped trying. *sigh* I don't want memory to be a fad for me. So I commit to continue reading (I'm in Genesis right now), and to not forget the Collosians 3:1-12. The next step will be to work on memorizing the rest. I may continue to work on it, but that will just be a bonus. My PRIORITY (isn't that such a key word?) is to make time to read. Isn't it so easy to get overwhelmed when you try to do good? I go from not reading, not praying, being a 1-hour-on-Sunday Christian to having a fire in my heart. I want to read, study, memorize, pray, minister, and so much more... but I need to learn that these things take time. If I am not willing or able to carve out hours out of my day on a moments notice, then I need to accept that these things will take time to work into my life. This is where I am now.

#3 is the hardest. There are a few things I would like to focus on. I would like to run regularly. I would like to work on The Shine Project (another fun new blog thing I just found). I would like to finish the unfinished projects in the house. I'd like to clean more regularly. I'd like to spend quality outside time with my family. I'd like to clean up the yard (or does this go into unfinished projects?). I'd like to take more pictures. I'd like to visit more with friends and family. I'd like to send cards "just because." I'd also like to work on my complaining and my attitude in general. Ugh! I guess that's more than one thing...

Running is something I enjoy doing. While I would like to, eventually, build to running every day, I am consistently running at least 3 times a week and I think that is good enough for now.

The Shine Project is just not a priority. I really like the idea... I might even blog about it... today! BUT this is not going to be one of the 3 things I do without fail. And if I try the Shine Project and don't have time, it's gone. This is definitely something I'd like to attempt eventually, but it doesn't make sense right now.

The projects in my house are a beast. This is something important for me, but it is something to do as a family. I hesitate to put something like this on a list of "must do" because it concerns my husband as well. I know that there are things I can do by myself, but it would not take long before I required my husbands help and/or had to spend money. I think it is best to leave this off the list... but again, something I should at least be working on in my free time.

Cleaning is a maybe. I mean, it needs to be done. I'd like to think I could just do it, but this may be a good canidate for my 3 in 30 challenge.

Outside time, pictures, cards... all of this stuff is more "fluff" to me. I think they're important, but when it comes to getting my life back in order, I think there are more important things to focus on first.
Complaining is the other big one.

How do I choose between cleaning more and complaining less? I think this month I will go with cleaning more just because it's much more measurable (everyone remember there SMART goals? lol!). I already at least touch the big stuff weekly (sweep, vacuum, dust, etc), but I would like to vacuum more often. I think a good goal for me would be to vacuum every time little dude takes a bath. I discussed it with big dude, and he agreed to do the baths to give me the time. It won't be every day, probably, although little dude wishes we would, but it will at least be a few times a week. Ok that's the plan!

So...

For the next 30 days (roughly the month of April) I will be working on...

1)  Eating balanced meals every day
2)  Reading the bible every day
3)  Vacuuming/sweeping every time Braden takes a bath (on top of normal cleaning)

Also, I will be linking this up, however I'm a little ahead of the game. As they are wrapping up their current 30 days, I will wait until they begin again to link in.

Verse of the Week

I like the command in this verse. We're being told that it's not enough to sit back and relax and enjoy our pending salvation. There is work to be done.

Weekend TO-Do Reviewed

Here was the plan...

To-Do Thursday:
visit mom
meal plan
deep clean bathroom

To-Do Friday:
bank
bill pay/filing
grocery shopping
vaccum/dust/sweep/mop
run with Sharese in the evening

To-Do Saturday:
run first thing (before it gets too hot)
possible F-I-L visit/work in the morning
gallery night from 2pm-9pm
*if F-I-L doesn't come over I will clean the fridge

To-Do Sunday:
run 1 mile
church
lunch after church
couponing
visit mom

Not too shabby! I didn't run Sunday because I was horribly horribly hung over... ugh! But then that is typically the case when I have Sharese and Mike over. I didn't get to meal plan, but I'm not sure that's going to happen right now. See, I'm not good at 100% changes all at once. Right now my eating is getting a major overhaul on it's own (post to come). So I think that meal planning may have to wait until I get used to eating good food. haha! No excuses on the bathroom or the fridge though... I just haven't gotten to it yet.

How did your weekend go?

Making the Most of Your Internet Play Time

Jade over at Super Organiser Mum has a great post today. She recently took a week off of the internet. She unplugged, and just enjoyed life without the world wide web. Today's post reflects on what she learned in that time. Now that she is using the internet again, she has decided to limit the time that she is online.

I'm going to share with y'all a list of 5 things she did to make the most of her online time. The first few have to do with e-mail, so here is a picture of the inbox I am starting with. Also, I did these in my own order as you'll see...

{Is that really 111 items in my inbox and 951 unread items!?!?}

#1 Completely empty everything (inbox, sent, etc) and reorganize
 I started to delete things, but I soon realized that the first thing I needed to do was to
 #2 unsubscribe to all of the crap I had coming in

These are all things that I unsubscribed from. I don't really know where these came from, and they aren't things I ever read. So why do I still get them?
Oprah
NoMoreRack
Omaha
1saleaday
read it forward
Ok Gone!

I went through my inbox and deleted everything that wasn't necesasry.  There was a lot of crap to take care of before I could just hit delete. All of the links I had sent myself of future projects to try went into a notepad. Each recipe got it's own notepad to be printed later. I also had an Amazon Subscribe & Save I needed to un-subscribe to.

I created some folders which you can see marked in red in the picture below. I have it set up to show the inbox all the time. Any other category is shown only if there is something unread in it. I also used filters to move anything I subscribe to (newsletters, spark people, fly lady, etc) directly to the label and to skip the inbox. That way I know if there's anything new, but it's not right in my face distracting me. I can click on the
label when I have time to go through all the new messages.

You'll notice I haven't deleted EVERYTHING. I'm unable to save the videos to my computer (weird I know) at work. So I marked with a star everything I need to save to my home computer and plan to do that this evening. The other e-mails in there are things I am not finished working on. After the pictures you can
see that I'm planning a bachelorette party, I have my memory verse saved in there (so that I can easily
access it from home, work, the phone, etc.), and that I have a virtual pre-paid gift card to redeem...
don't get excited! There's only $1.27 left on it! *lol* There is also a reminder from a facebook group I
am in.

The majority of those will go away tonight when I can save the videos. The giftcard expires at the end of
the month, so if I can't think of anything I can buy online for $1.27 I will delete that when it expires (suggestions?).
The memory verse I'm still thinking about. It's convenient, but I don't know if I want it taking up the
space in my inbox. I think I'll see what it looks like once everything else is out, and then decide if I
will keep it there or not. The bachelorette party conversation will stay until August. But that's the only
one that will be there for any length of time.

#3 prioritize your internet time

I don't think this is a huge deal for me, but then again I don't think it would hurt. I am on the internet
for the following things:
couponing - mostly on Sundays
reading blogs - on lunch at work
writing my blogs - on lunch at work
playing Minecraft - occasionally in the evening with my hubby
facebooking - mostly on my phone
email - mostly on my phone
bill pay/budgeting - I try to do this every payday

The only things I think may be an issue is the facebook. My phone is addicting. I think I need to do as
Jade suggested and ask myself "is there anything else that needs to be done?" before I pick up my phone.
If the answer is yes, no facebook.

#4 pare down blog reading list

I just got in to blogging, so I don't know if I'm ready to do this. I have about 20 blogs I currently
read. Most of the time, I read these during the day at lunch at work. This doesn't really cut in to any
family/productive time.

#5 delete facebook friends

I've already been doing this some. I used to have over 1,000 friends (yes seriously), and now I have
gotten it down to 483. Woo hoo!

And here is the pretty after picture!

Ok, so I've gotten everything cleaned up as much as I can from here. I plan on clearing out the rest of
the pictures/movies this evening, and I'll just be left with important things that actually need to be
done! Yay!

Is your inbox/internet life in need of a little organizing?